January 23, 2025
By Jim Edlund
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I’m a big fan of seafood, which makes living in Minnesota difficult. Sure, you can get fresh, flown-in-daily seafood but you pay for it. Good thing that around the holidays the price of seafood comes down, which gave me the chance to prepare the Italian-American classic called Cioppino, a dish with origins going back to the 1800s around San Francisco Bay, where fisherman would literally “chip in” their fresh catch to make community pots of the wine, herb, and tomato infused seafood stew.
The dish is still popular today and you can find it on menus of both coasts, each batch typically regionalized by whatever seafood is in season—from the fish choice, to crab, shrimp, clams, mussels, squid, even lobster.
Traditionally made with snapper, halibut, cod, or similarly firm-fleshed fish, I recently tapped into a Zip-Lok bag of walleye and pike from my freezer, in addition to purchased seafood—wild caught gulf shrimp (16-20 ct.) that I peeled and deveined and some little neck clams. Wondering what to do with those eelpout you’re catching through the ice? This might be another good recipe to consider for the freshwater cod, a fresh alternative to “Poor Man’s Lobster” of boiling the chunks in 7-Up or Mountain Dew.
This version of cioppino is an easy recipe to prepare; it takes about an hour from start to finish and will feed four to five hungry fishing friends. Serve with baguette bread quarters to sop up the aromatic and tasty broth. It’s the perfect recipe for a cold evening here “up north”—a fun and tasty alternative to something like a cream and potato-based walleye chowder.
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Speaking of the broth, if you’re keen on a strong, seafood-tasting broth, use either clam juice or seafood stock, both of which can be found at larger supermarkets. If not, consider vegetable or even chicken stock, in place of the clam juice I used in the recipe below.
Ingredients List 1/4 cup olive oil 4 shallots of one large onion (minced) 4-5 garlic cloves (minced) 1 1/2 cup white wine (1) can crushed tomatoes (28 ounces) (2) 8 oz. bottles of clam juice (or 16 ounces seafood, vegetable, or chicken stock) 1-2 pounds 2”-3” pieces of walleye, pike, or burbot 1 to 1-1/2 lbs. large shrimp 15-20 littleneck clams or 8-10 mussels 2 teaspoons white sugar Salt to taste Pepper to taste Fresh thyme A few dashes of dried red pepper flakes Italian parsley for garnish Additional fresh thyme for garnish and flavor Dried oregano and/or Italian Seasoning blend Preparation (YIELD: 4-6 servings) Mince shallots/onion and garlic. Lightly saute in 1/4 cup olive oil. Add 1 cup white wine and increase heat to boil off alcohol. Add one can (28 oz.) of crushed tomatoes, 16 ounces or clam juice or stock, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, oregano, thyme, and 1 cup water—cover and bring to a boil for 20 minutes. Add seafood in stages. Start with clams and simmer until they open. Add shrimp and hunks of walleye, pike, or burbot, retain simmer, cover, and check for firm “doneness” in 5 to 10 minutes. Dish is complete just before the fish starts to flake and break apart. Ladle seafood/fish combination into large bowls, pouring broth on top. Sprinkle bowls with Italian Parsley and more fresh thyme; serve with quartered baguette bread. Enjoy!